Hexagram 8 比 changing to hexagram 15 謙
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 3, 5.
What to read
Two changing lines: read both line texts of the original hexagram; the upper one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 8 比, line 5
顯比。王用三敺，失前禽，邑人不誡，吉。
The fifth line, undivided, affords the most illustrious instance of seeking union and attachment. (We seem to see in it) the king urging his pursuit of the game (only) in three directions, and allowing the escape of all the animals before him, while the people of his towns do not warn one another (to prevent it). There will be good fortune.
Hexagram 8 比, line 3
比之匪人。
In the third line, divided, we see its subject seeking for union with such as ought not to be associated with.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 8 比 — judgment
吉。原筮元永貞，无咎。不寧方來，後夫凶。
Pî indicates that (under the conditions which it supposes) there is good fortune. But let (the principal party intended in it) re-examine himself, (as if) by divination, whether his virtue be great, unintermitting, and firm. If it be so, there will be no error. Those who have not rest will then come to him; and with those who are (too) late in coming it will be ill.
Hexagram 15 謙 — judgment
亨，君子有終。
Khien indicates progress and success. The superior man, (being humble as it implies), will have a (good) issue (to his undertakings).
The changing lines of hexagram 8
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 比之匪人。 | In the third line, divided, we see its subject seeking for union with such as ought not to be associated with. |
| 5 | 顯比。王用三敺，失前禽，邑人不誡，吉。 | The fifth line, undivided, affords the most illustrious instance of seeking union and attachment. (We seem to see in it) the king urging his pursuit of the game (only) in three directions, and allowing the escape of all the animals before him, while the people of his towns do not warn one another (to prevent it). There will be good fortune. |
English: James Legge (1882), public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi.
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.